Applications, such as word processors and web browsers, typically include a menu bar that includes menus such as “File”, “Edit”, “View”, etc. A user can use a mouse, touch screen, or other pointing device to open a menu by clicking on it. When the menu is open, a list of menu items for that menu is displayed. The user can then select one of the menu items, which may cause a submenu (i.e., a list of submenu items) to be displayed, a dialog to open, or an action (e.g., copy or paste) to be performed. A dialog or dialog window is a window that may be used to display information to the user and/or receive input from the user that is used by application. A dialog may open in response to selecting a menu item. Examples of dialogs include “Print”, “Save”, “Save As”, “Options”, “Preferences”, etc. Often a dialog includes elements such as application settings, actions that can be performed, configuration information, etc.
FIG. 1 is an example of a graphical user interface (GUI) 100 for an application. GUI 100 includes a menu bar 102 with menus “File”, “Edit”, “View”, “Document”, and “Tools”. In this example, a user has selected the “File” menu 103, which cause “File” menu items 104 to be displayed. The user has then selected the “Print” menu item 106, causing the “Print” dialog 108 to be opened. As shown, “Print” dialog 108 includes a variety of elements related to printing, including a pull down menu 112 with a list of printers and a preview 110 of a document to be printed.
Some applications, such as Adobe® Photoshop® or Adobe® Acrobat®, have a large number of menu items and dialogs. Some dialogs may include a lot of information. There may be times when a user does not know or cannot remember the dialog corresponding to a menu item. The user needs to select the menu item and open the dialog to see what is in the dialog. Sometimes when the user wants to perform some function but does not know or cannot remember which dialog is needed for the function, the user has to search through multiple menu items and dialogs, select and open multiple menu items, view multiple dialogs, and then close them (e.g., by selecting the “Cancel” button), until the desired dialog is found.
Some dialogs take time to open because data displayed in the dialog must first be obtained and transferred. For example, in “Print” dialog 108, document preview 110 may take time to generate and display. In some cases, the list of printers in pull down menu 112 may take time to obtain. Some dialogs display settings information that needs to be retrieved before being displayed. This further slows down the process.
Thus, repeatedly opening and closing dialog windows to search for a desired dialog window can be an inefficient, time consuming, and tedious process, particularly when the application has a large number of menus and menu items to search through and/or a user is unfamiliar with the application. A more user friendly way to quickly locate a desired dialog window is needed.